Bleeding farmers; blissfully ignorent Minister

Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh is unabashedly self-congratulatory when it comes to tackling challenges faced by farmers in the country. Speaking recently in Haryana the Minister claimed ” the unprecedented development in agricultural production is setting an example for the world and the world is trying to learn our techniques and adopt them”.

However, a survey recently conducted by Indiancooperative.com offers a stinging evidence in refutation of the minister’s tall claims. The farmers in Shripur -a village in the district Supaul of Bihar complained of their inability to avail any of the central schemes, the Minister never tires of talking about.

A team had come and collected soil for testing a couple of years ago in my village but we are yet to hear again, said Hari Jha a farmer of the village. We do not know what is e-mandi as we struggle everyday to be able to sell our jute-produce, added Phulwa-another farmer from the village.

Jute Corporation of India which has set up a procurement centre in the nearby market Pratapganj has fallen into the hands of local baniyas who in collusion with the JCI officials buy jute cheap from helpless farmers. Farmers could be seen lining up since early morning only to be told late evening that their produce is not up to the mark. The produce finally lands up in local tradesmen store-making a mockery of the govt tall claims.

Indian Cooperative gathered that the only scheme reaching out successfully to poor farmers is Ujjawla. Every poor household claimed they have got gas chulha and connection.

Coming to the Haryana speech of the Minister, Singh claimed “in the last three years, the Ministry has developed innovative schemes, provided necessary funds and made policy decisions which had a far-reaching effect on the agriculture sector.”

Singh said to achieve the target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry is not only working towards increasing the production but also focusing on proper processing techniques, traffic, and market expansion to make agriculture profitable.